An
optio (plural
optiones; , from
optare, "to choose", because an
optio was chosen by his
centurion), sometimes anglicized
option (though rarely, to avoid confusion with "option"), was a soldier in the
Roman army who held a position similar to that of a company's
executive officer in modern armies. The optio seems to have held a rank roughly equivalent to that of a modern
lieutenant, reflective of his status as the second in command of the century in which he served. The main function of an
optio was as an
optio centuriae, the second-in-command of a
century, although there were many other positions an
optio could hold.